NEWS- BANNER

2/14 Good ice conditions continue here in Tioga County. The bite has toughened up some this week, but anglers are still catching a variety of fish. A few days of warm weather are moving in, however, this should have little impact on the ice for this weekend. If anything changes, we will update immediately. This will make for extremly slick conditions too. Make sure you have your cleats!

Hills Creek- The bite's been spotty here the past few days, but anglers have found nice 8+ inch bluegills in the stumps end, as well as perch in the deeper water around the beach and the dam. Perch have varied in size and lots of little ones are being caught, but nice 10-12 inches have been in the mix too. Waxworms have been the preferred bait. Silver, chartruese, glow, pearl, and firetiger jigs have worked well. Ice is at 9-10" on the deep end and 10+ around the stumps. Tip ups with shiners are yielding pickerel and bass in a variety of areas too.

Hamilton- Anglers faired pretty well at the Hamilton tournament with 28 teams fishing and the majority weighing a limit of panfish. Winners had roughly 5.5 lbs. Many small panfish are biting, but anglers are weeding through them to find some nice sunfish and perch. Crappies have been mostly small. Deeper water continues to be the most productive. Trout are being caught around the lake. Targetting them with tipups and deadsticks rigged with fatheads, powerbait, or waxworms has been good. Jigging with waxworms also has been effective. Ice is anywhere from 12-15" plus.

Cowanesque- Small perch and mixed sizes of crappies are being caught on waxworms and minnows. Better crappies, including some 13-14+ inches are being caught off downed trees and cribs. Check out the PFBC habitat map for more structure locations too! Ice is 10-12"

Hammond- Not many people out on Hammond this week. However, the few guys out did find some fish along 287, fishing the dropoffs. Mixed bag of panfish, including perch, bluegills, and crappies.

Beechwood- Trout are still biting well on waxworms, fatheads, and powerbait. Nice pickerel and bass were caught too using medium and large shiners.